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Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Foods

Indian-Style Street Wraps: Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Vindaloo

"It's like an Indian burrito!" said one of our panelists. Indeed, that's basically what these are. Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Foods call these "Indian-Style Street Wraps." The package describes these as "wrapped in a whole grain wheat roti," and roti is a thin, unleavened bread similar to a tortilla, although tortillas often add a shortening or fat to the dough while apparently roti usually do not.

We found these next to the other burritos in our market's organic frozen food section. As always, we checked the sodium levels first and these contain about 620 milligrams of sodium each - a little higher than we'd like in a wrap or burrito. They are, however, fairly substantial lunch meals, with about 350 calories apiece and a whopping 6 grams of fiber.

Like many burritos, these are packaged in a plastic sleeve and the instructions call for you to remove them from the sleeve, wrap them loosely in a paper towel, and microwave for 2 minutes, turning them over halfway through. Do note, however, that these instructions refer to an 800 watt microwave. Most these days are 1100 watts or more (Dr. Gourmet's is 1200 watts), so we accordingly reduced the power on our microwave to try to avoid overcooking them. We've found (and you probably have, too) that with some frozen burritos, overheating them can make the tortilla tough to the point of resembling shoe leather. What's worse is that overheating can also cause blowouts that coat the inside of your microwave with the burrito's filling.

Our caution may have been a mistake. The wraps were too hot to pick up on the outside, but when we cut into them with a knife and fork, the fillling was warm, but not *hot*. What's good is that these wraps contain the amount of filling you'd expect, unlike some burritos or pockets, which are significantly more tortilla or pocket than filling. And they smell and taste great - the Tikka Masala is moderately spicy and the Vindaloo's curry sauce doesn't overpower the mint. The chunks of chicken might be smaller than we'd like and the wrap remains fairly tender. In the case of the Vindaloo the wrap split along the length of the wrap, making it a little difficult to eat burrito-style in one hand.

On the other hand, the filling is fairly dry and crumbly and the rice is definitely rice that's been frozen and reheated without enough moisture. On the whole, the panel decided not to recommend them for two reasons: first, there are Lamb Vindaloo and Chicken Tikka Masala frozen meals that are just as good in terms of flavor, without the dry, crumbly texture (or use our recipe and make your own Chicken Vindaloo). Second, if you want a hand-held lunch, we've reviewed over a dozen burritos and pockets that we can recommend without reservations. Here's our list of reviews of burritos, pockets, and sandwiches.